Finches in the Ferns

Every Spring we buy two giant Boston ferns to hang on our front porch. You can't live in the south and have a rocking-chair porch without hanging ferns too!

With the annual fern hanging comes the annual house hunting trek for two adorable house finches that choose a fern for their nesting spot every Spring. This year, within a half hour of me hanging the ferns, the finches had already chosen which one they wanted to call home and got busy scouting the yard for their nest-building materials.

The next morning when I got the fern down to water it, there sat the most perfect little nest. Wow! That was fast! The mama finch is grayish brown and she sits on the nest singing her song all day while the daddy finch, who is brown with red on his head and breast, flies around the yard in search of food for the mama. Sometimes he rests on a nearby branch in the pear tree and they sing back and forth to each other. He flies up to the porch and hangs on the porch swing chain and peaks in the living room window at us.

This morning when I took the fern down to water, there in the nest lay one tiny, pale green egg. I know from past experience with these little finch that there will be at least two or three more eggs added to the nest over the next few days and before long when I take the fern down for watering there will be a nest full of hungry, bald babies with their beaks open wide waiting for someone to drop worms or bugs down into their greedy little mouths.

And before I know it, since time passes so quickly, the nest will be empty and my finches will be gone. At least until next Spring comes along. . .